From concert and album reviews to feature articles, Third Coast Percussion is in the news.
We are fortunate to have garnered critical acclaim and recognition for so many of our performances and projects. See for yourself what the buzz is all about by reading what the press has to say! Browse reviews, articles, and much more below.
Interview: Third Coast Percussion Comes To Town
July 26, 2017, by Third Coast Percussion
March 2, 2017 Interview by Joshua Zinn Rob Dillon of the recent Grammy-winning percussion group talks about their upcoming Houston concert and the music of Steve Reich. “Surreal” is how Rob Dillon described Third Coast Percussion‘s recent Grammy Award for “Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance” for their album Third Coast Percussion | Steve Reich. And part of that Grammy success will be presented on stage when the ensemble performs in Houston presented by the Society for the Performing Arts this weekend! On the concert will be one of the pieces from the CD, Reich’s Mallet Quartet. In describing the piece, Dillon says that it has “that rhythmic drive that comes from a lot of Reich’s earlier works,” but it is different from the process-driven minimalism the composer was known for in his early career. As percussionists, the group greatly benefits from twentieth and twenty-first century composers like Steve Reich: “As a percussion quartet, we’re…
Interview: Third Coast Brings the Percussion
, by Third Coast Percussion
February 22, 2017 Interview by Kyle Kellams "Recently we reached Robert Dillon, one of the four founding musicians in the ensemble. Our conversation took place only about 70 hours after the GRAMMY Award had been announced." Click here to listen to the full interview.
An Interview with Grammy-Winning Third Coast Percussion’s Rob Dillon
, by Third Coast Percussion
February 16, 2017 Interview by Rachel Deloughry Third Coast Percussion, a dynamic Chicago-based quartet have just won a Grammy for the best small ensemble category! primephonic spoke to one of their members, Rob Dillon, about the percussionists's world, from orchestral and chamber music to Ghanaian and Zimbabwean drumming in unique collaborations, as well as delving into the sound-universe of Steve Reich's works. Click here to read the full interview.
Alumni percussion ensemble wins a Grammy
, by Third Coast Percussion
February 16, 2017 by Kelley Czajka Third Coast Percussion, a classical percussion ensemble comprising four NU alumni, took home a Grammy award Sunday night. Its album “Steve Reich” won the award for Best Chamber Group/Small Ensemble Performance. This was the first time the group had been nominated for or awarded a Grammy, as well as the first time any percussion group has won a chamber music category, Third Coast member Robert Dillon said. “We’re very proud of the work that we’ve done and are thrilled to have the honor, but we also definitely recognize that for music, it’s something that’s passed down from one generation to the next through teachers and mentors of all kinds,” Dillon said. (more…)
After Grammy win, Third Coast Percussion comes to Columbia
, by Third Coast Percussion
February 16, 2017 Meredith McGrath On Sunday, Third Coast Percussion took home this year's Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance. Now for the first time, the ensemble is headed to our neck of the woods to work with local music students and perform at the Missouri Theatre on Friday. The quartet from Chicago gave an educational performance for students at Lee Expressive Arts Elementary School on Tuesday and has been working with students at the MU School of Music. Percussion students had the opportunity to attend a seminar with the group, where they learned about its background, received career advice and had their own performances critiqued by the professionally trained percussionists. (more…)
Northwestern alumni percussion group nominated for Grammys, attribute success to university
, by Third Coast Percussion
February 9, 2017 by Rishika Dugyala Peter Martin was not having a good morning. It was 8 a.m. on Dec. 6 and Martin (Bienen ‘04, ‘11) was rushing to get to his classical percussion ensemble’s — Third Coast Percussion — studio space to start practicing before all the musicians began their group rehearsal at 10 a.m. The week was a busy one for the group: They had an intense rehearsal schedule to prepare for a couple of recording sessions, and they were in the middle of an educational project at an elementary school on the South Side of Chicago. “I’ve got to get to the studio; I’ve got to get there,” Martin thought, stumbling out of his Chicago apartment. But as soon as the door shut, he froze. He had left his keys on the counter, locking himself out. Frustrated, Martin spent about a half hour sorting out the situation…
Third Coast Percussion premieres new work by Christopher Cerrone
, by Third Coast Percussion
February 2, 2017 by Jack Walton Once again, Third Coast Percussion has roused the Sleeping Giant. Sleeping Giant is the name of a composers' collective, an alliance of six increasingly prominent young American explorers in the field of contemporary classical music. Third Coast Percussion, the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center's ensemble-in-residence at the University of Notre Dame, has already performed new works from two of them — Timo Andres and Ted Hearne — and now the percussionists take on a third. (more…)
Grammy winning Third Coast Percussion performs at Lee Expressive Arts Elementary
, by Third Coast Percussion
February 15, 2017 by Roger McKinney New Grammy Award winners Third Coast Percussion on Tuesday stopped at Lee Expressive Arts Elementary School, where the band entertained and interacted with students. Third Coast Percussion, from the Chicago area, won its first Grammy on Sunday, for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance. A student asked the musicians how it felt to win the Grammy. Band member David Skidmore said the award feels good because they had worked really hard for a long time. He said it’s more fun to perform and interact with students. “This is why we do what we do,” Skidmore said. (more…)
The Best of the Fall Season: Classical New Releases
July 22, 2017, by Third Coast Percussion
December 12, 2016 by Mark Pinto Third Coast Percussion: Steve Reich. The compositional style known as minimalism still sounds so new that it's hard to believe one of its pioneers—New York City's Steve Reich—has just turned 80. This album, by Chicago-based Third Coast Percussion, celebrates Reich's milestone with smooth, spirited, and precise performances of four works for tuned percussion: marimbas, vibraphones, pianos, and even slats of purpleheart wood. Composed between 1973 and 2009, these works showcase Reich's trademark style. Steady, complex, interlocking rhythmic patterns create jazzy melodies and harmonies as they evolve subtly in their rhythms, textures, instrumentation, and dynamics. The effect is fascinatingly kaleidoscopic, allowing for multiple entry points into this dynamic and uniquely American music. Click here to read the original article.
Third Coast Percussion provides an Ear Taxi highlight with jointly composed premiere
December 7, 2016, by Third Coast Percussion
by Tim Sawyier October 9, 2016 ... The program opened with Third Coast Percussion giving the world premiere of its own Reaction Yield. While all four TCP members—Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, and David Skidmore—compose their own music, this is the first work they have written together collaboratively. Commissioned by the Glenn D. Prestwich and the Sounds of Science Commissioning Club, which subsidizes pieces that fuse music and science, Reaction Yield was far and away the evening’s highlight. While the work is divided into four connected movements, Dillon in his prefatory remarks was emphatic that no member was solely responsible for any one segment. A delicate pulsing suffuses and unifies the whole work, while the individual sections are discernible by changes in instrumentation. Particularly memorable was an interlude calling for four triangles of different pitches combined with glockenspiels, which generated an ethereal rhythmic tintinnabulation. Three members also performed on…
Page 28 of 36
